BLINDSPOT Review “Gunplay Ricochet”

BLINDSPOT — “Gunplay Ricochet” Episode 304 — Pictured: (l-r) Sullivan Stapleton as Kurt Weller, Jaimie Alexander as Jane Doe — (Photo by: Eric Liebowitz/NBC/Warner Bros)

BLINDSPOT “GUNPLAY RICOCHET” REVIEW

BY PAULINE PERENACK

Bombings and Bombshells

Last week on Blindspot we were given a little more information on what our various team members were up to during the two year time jump between last season and this, with the focus being primarily on Patterson and Rich Dotcom. Turns out that the two had been working as hackers bringing people to justice, but using tactics that weren’t always legal. As such, a unique, and secret working relationship was born.

By the end of the episode however, the murder of Stuart was once again investigated, introducing us to a mysterious man whose ear looked to have been cut off. How that man connects with Roman and the tattoos however, seemed to be the set up for tonight’s episode, so let’s recap what happened.

Operation Cuttlefish

Tonight’s episode, “Gunplay Ricochet” begins in 1994 with a group of kids playing Pogs in the street. A mysterious man walks by them, gets in a van, and then drives away, while listening to a radio news alert that is reporting about the PennTech bomber, who had just left another manifesto, threatening another bomb attack. As he drives away, the car next to the kids explodes.

We then shift to Jane and Weller unpacking a box of a few of their old things, including their wedding video. As they do, Jane admits to hearing from Roman the night before, and explains that she wants Weller to know everything, because then Roman couldn’t hold anything over them. Weller agrees, but neglects to tell her about his meeting with Roman a while ago, and the threat from Roman to expose whatever happened in Berlin.

Back at headquarters, we see how close Hirst and Reade seem to be, as he drops off a Michigan football sweater for her to wear for losing a bet. He then tells her about Roman’s phone call to Jane – Jane must be telling everyone on the team everything – and Hirst warns Reade to make sure his house is clean since Roman is all about exposing secrets. They’re interrupted however when Patterson solves another tattoo.

This time, a new tattoo combined with an old tattoo alerts the team to the case of the PennTech Bomber, and directs them to a parking lot in Brooklyn. Even more specifically, to a certain parking space. The team descends on the area, and Weller in full bomb gear walks up to a van parked in the spot. He opens the doors, and finds a letter inside which is addressed to the bomber’s daughter, Claire, and is signed, “Dad.”

Claire is brought in for questioning, and finally admits that her father is alive, not killed in one of his bombings as previously assumed, and she has been trading letters with him for years, but has no idea where he is. However, the two had come up with a plan for her to sit on a bench in Saratoga Park if there was ever an emergency.

The team sends Claire to sit on the bench, and lie in wait. When nothing happens, they fan out, and Jane notices a man coming out of a house across the street, but he changes direction upon seeing her. She gives chase, but loses him, only to find him holding a gun to the back of her head. Interestingly enough, he calls her Remi – her name from her days with Shepherd. Once in his house, Jane is able to gain the upper hand, and brings the man into headquarters for questioning.

While being questioned, Rosamand “Rossi” Ott refuses to say anything about his clients, but does drop the information that he spent a lot of time with Roman and Remi when they were kids, and even set up her adoption. Before the team can get any more out of him, the State Department comes in, and says they’re going to extradite Rossi to France for crimes he’s committed. 

Meanwhile, Zapata and Patterson are able to find Rossi’s client book and decode it to find the bomber’s house. The team shows up at the house to find the local Sheriff’s bomb squad working on a decoy bomb, which they accidentally detonate, and everyone barely escapes with their lives.

As the team works to find the bomber, Roman is working further on his own plan. Using the stolen identity of Tom Jakeman from last week, he attends a charity benefit hosted by Blake Crawford. Throughout the event, the two flirt and Roman ultimately impresses her when he bids $20k on a wish bracelet made by one of the children displaced by war, who will benefit from the proceeds of the auction. Blake is very clearly smitten with Roman, and happily accepts the gift of the won bracelet, not knowing it now holds a tracking device so Roman can see her location at all times.

Back at headquarters, since the PennTech Bomber case is at a standstill for the moment, Patterson focuses her attention on Operation Cuttlefish (which sounds like something put together by Henry in Once Upon a Time). Cuttlefish is her investigation into Stuart’s murder, and she pulls in Zapata for help. After digging through Stuart’s cellphone data, Patterson discovers that the FBI’s tip line had been tampered with, and only someone from the FBI, DOJ, or State Department would have had access to do the tampering. Suddenly, Assistant Secretary West, the State Department employee who was brought in to deal with Rossi, was looking like a pretty good suspect, especially after Rossi disappeared while in West’s custody.

Attention shifts back to the bomber when he releases another manifesto, which the team decodes to discover he’s leaving a bomb in the hospital basement at New York Metro University. Once there, the team fans out. Reade and Zapata end up fighting and killing the bomber, while Jane and Weller come face to face with the bomb. They disable it just in time, and another tattoo case is solved.

As the episode winds down, we’re left with a couple of cliffhangers. First, Zapata sees Reade get into a car with West, even though he had just texted her to say he was at home. The bigger cliffhanger however, came when Jane read through the contents of an envelope that Rossi shoved under her door. Turns out, when he mentioned setting up her adoption, he didn’t mean her adoption to Shepherd, but rather, the adoption of Jane’s daughter.

A Missing Daughter

So far this season, I’m loving how well the team gets along with each other. For the first two seasons, they kept secrets from one another, which always left one or more of them separated from the group. This season, while they definitely all have secrets, their interactions tend to be the best parts of each episode. Patterson and Zapata working together shows a deep respect and level of care between the two. They’re both there for each other always, and by working together, are solving things quickly. And Zapata and Reade’s friendship has always been a wonderful connection.

Additionally, after being kept apart for the vast majority of the first two seasons, Jane and Weller are able to be together a lot, and it’s clear how deeply they love each other. It’s so refreshing to see these two enjoy a semi-normal life with each other at home, even watching their wedding video.

Throughout the episode tonight, we got to see clips of the wedding video, with everyone telling Weller and Jane how fantastic the two were together. It was so nice to see everyone on the team, including Director Hirst, having a good time, and relishing in the fact that two of their friends had gotten together. However, it’s Weller and Jane, and nothing can ever fully be normal, and as the video comes to a close, they’re shocked to see a spliced in video of Roman warning them of the pain to come. 

Unfortunately however, the secrets of the team members appear to be big enough to once again drive the team from each other. Reade is in deep with something connected to Roman, and Director Hirst appears to have a feeling that something is going on since she warned him to get his house in order. Or, did that warning mean that she’s somehow involved too? She and Reade seem to be pretty close to each other even though they’ve only been working together for a short time.

And with this latest reveal of Jane possibly having a daughter, which is a bombshell if true, could this tie in somehow to whatever happened in Berlin? Did Weller unknowingly do something to Jane’s daughter and this is what Roman believes will rip the two apart?

Guess we’ll have to wait until the next episode to find out. Until then!